A woman who trafficked girls as young as 13 into the hands of a grooming gang told police: “It’s self-inflicted, I’ve got no sympathy for them”.

Carolann Gallon provided vulnerable teenagers to a group of men who used and abused girls and young women in the West End of Newcastle.

Gallon, now 22, told police after her arrest: "They shouldn't have too much to drink. If they want to go with them, they have got their own mind to go with people.They are not some kid, they are 15 or 16. If they're mortal (drunk) they are going to do something, why get mortal in the first place? It's self-inflicted, I've got no sympathy."

A court heard she left one young woman with learning difficulties with Abdulhamid Minoyee and told her she was in safe hands - only for him to rape her when she fell into a drug and alcohol-induced sleep.

Now Gallon and Minoyee have both been jailed at Newcastle Crown Court as a four-day sentencing hearing for Operation Shelter came to a climax.

Gallon, 22, was locked up for six years and three months for trafficking for sexual exploitation while rapist Minoyee got 15 years, bringing the total sentences passed on the gang to more than 180 years.